Papal Nuncio to Ireland on the need for vocations

It was very heartening to hear Archbishop Charles Brown, the Papal Nuncio to Ireland speak about vocations during his address at the annual Eucharistic procession in Cork city on Sunday last (feast of Corpus Christi). In a wide ranging contribution on the theme of the Eucharist, the Papal Nuncio also stated that our celebration of the Eucharist and our Eucharistic processions teaches us that our lives of faith as Catholics are not something which can be confined or limited to the inside of Churches. Our faith also needs to affect the way in which we live and interact in the public square as citizens. 

On the theme of vocations, he spoke of the need for the courage of men and women in Ireland to listen to and respond to the call of the Lord in their lives and to serve him:

"......In my year and a half in Ireland, I have met so many courageous Catholic women, who love their faith and love their Church. I met them at the Eucharistic Congress last year. I have seen them working hard to safeguard the lives of mothers and unborn children at this time. I have encountered them among religious sisters serving the poorest of the poor. I have met them teaching in schools. The Church needs their witness and their example.

But it is not just women whom the Church in Ireland needs today. We need young men too, especially young men who will have the courage to say ‘yes’ to the call of Christ, and follow him as priests. In the mystery of God’s plan, the Eucharistic presence of Jesus Christ is only possible when there is a priest, that is, when there is a man who has been conformed to Christ by ordination, a man whose life has been taken up by Christ, a man who has become – with all his weaknesses – an icon of Christ."

This invitation is urgent and necessary - and we need to hear it far more regularly!

Eucharistic adoration and vocations

Preaching a parish retreat in Ardmore parish in the diocese of Derry this past week has prompted some reflections on the link between eucharistic adoration and vocations. During the retreat the parish has prayed each day in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament from morning until evening. There is a sense of a new appreciation of eucharistic adoration and the necessity to prayer for vocations.

There are important reasons for the link between prayer for vocations and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Firstly, and most importantly, eucharistc adoration in parishes and religious houses should as a matter of course pray for vocations. Secondly, only a church that is constantly 'in love' with the blessed Eucharist will attract and generate vocations. Thirdly, religious formation depends so much on drawing close to Jesus himself and the act of visiting Him. Fouthly, of course, is the strong connection between the Eucharist and the priesthood.

There are numerous examples of evidence that eucharistic adoration has proved to be a decisive factor in attracting vocations around the world. It should be said that there is a simple reason for this - namely that it is the 'vocations strategy' of the Lord himself when he asked his followers to pray to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.

Adoring the Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is especially effective because it draws attention in a unique way to the great gift that makes the priesthood and religious life so extraordinary and so needed - without the priesthood, of course, we would not have God's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Silent Eucharistic Adoration naturally poses the question 'What do you want to do with me, Lord?' - it is a hope of mine that those considering a vocation will use time before the Lord to answer this question.

I have been very heartened by the prayerful way that the people of this parish in Derry have used the time to pray before the Blessed Sacrament for vocations - it is their prayer that is in large measure responsible for the vocations that the Church has.